Boys basketball: Brandywine Heights eliminated by Lancaster Mennonite

Jimmy Ludwig's layup off of a Noah Hermany no-look pass gave Brandywine Heights a 10-point lead with 6:02 left in the game.

The Bullets failed to score the rest of the game and lost in heartbreaking fashion 53-49 to Lancaster Mennonite in the District 3 Class 3A first round Monday at Mertztown.

The loss ends the Bullets' season.

Brandywine (15-8) attempted just four shots in the fourth quarter. The combination of being content to run clock and missing the front end of two one-and-one free throw trips was the Bullets' undoing.

"We were just trying to run out the clock, we weren't really looking for baskets," Brandywine's John Harrison said. "That's something we shouldn't be doing. We should have been going to the basket."

Harrison scored a game-high 20 points, but only attempted one shot in the fourth quarter.

The fourth-seeded Bullets trailed 51-49 when he got the ball with his back to the basket on the left block, but his shot came up short and went out of bounds off of a Brandywine player.

"Me and Noah (Hermany) were going pick and roll, we were trying to do that and tried it the play before and it didn't quite happen," Harrison said.

Hermany barely missed a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass, but he touched the ball while out of bounds. The Bullets were unable to foul on the next inbounds play and the fifth-seeded Blazers (14-10) got a layup with .9 seconds remaining to seal it.

Elijah Terry scored 16 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. He only attempted two shots in the first half and found himself on the bench for a period of time in foul trouble.

"I told him to just to stick with it," said first-year Lancaster Mennonite coach Seth Buckwater. "I don't know that he has been taken out of a half like that and just to sit on the bench the whole time. He doesn't get his feathers ruffled, I knew he would come back strong."

Terry, who scored 22 points in a 61-49 win in the first meeting between these two teams in January, started the game-ending 14-0 run with a basket and then pulled his team within two, 49-47, on his third 3-pointer of the half. He set up Elijah Bynum with 59 seconds left on a great look from distance that gave the Blazers their first lead since 19-17.

"He's a great player and you just know players like that at some point will try to take over," Brandywine coach Ryan Wehr said. "You hope collectively as a defense that you can prevent that from happening but credit to him for making plays when they needed them."

Andy Ludwig had 12 points for the Bullets and Hermany finished with 11.

The season is over for Brandywine as only the top four teams reach the state playoffs in Class 3A. The Bullets have 29 wins over the past two seasons compared to 31 wins over the five years prior.